The Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) is South Africa’s leading sex worker human rights organisation. The organisation is a registered non-profit organisation and has been operating since 1996.

The ideology behind the setup of SWEAT came about during the early 1990’s where there was much excitement and hope around the transition from apartheid to democracy and a Constitution that aimed to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the human rights of all people living in South Africa. In 1994, Shane Petzer, a male sex worker and founding member of SWEAT, had hopes of establishing a non-governmental service organisation focusing on safer sex education with adult sex workers.